Ariana: I'm back! With a hopefully better story than my first two. This actually went a whole other direction than it was supposed to. Oh well! Reviews are greatly appreciated! (grin)

Daisuke: Aren't you forgetting something?

Ariana: Uh...

Daisuke: The disclaimer...

Ariana: Oh right. I don't own digimon or any of it's characters. I'm not making any money off of this. Honestly. I'm only a broke college student! (Cries)

Daisuke: Oh you poor thing. u.u;

Ariana: On with the story!

The Morning After

Takeru woke up with a sense of disorientation. He looked around and realized he wasn't in his room. He began to panic, but slowly things started coming back to him. Last night had been a huge party thrown by his brother's band. The digidestined had been on the guest list. He had been drinking a little...okay a lot. He remembered talking to someone but he couldn't remember who. He had been distracted and pulled away from the party. He was taken outside by—

'Oh no,' he thought. He turned and found his face in a mop of red hair.¹ he fought the urge to scream. 'Ok Takeru, calm down. You're fine, just got a little too drunk. And now I'm sitting in someone else's bed, my clothes are on the floor—oh God!' He jumped off the bed and pulled his clothes on. The figure on the bed started moving. Takeru paused and held his breath.

The person groaned and turned around. "Takeru?"

He ran. He pushed his way to the front door and outside. He kept running until his legs gave out and his headache came on full force. When he caught his breath he found himself in a park. He sat down on a bench and held his head. Hangovers were a bitch. Luckily there was no school today. He thought back to last night and tried to remember what happened. He couldn't. The knot in his stomach tightened.

"I couldn't have," he said to himself. "No no no. Not with him." Part of him wanted to jump off a cliff. But another part of him didn't think it was necessarily a bad thing. He dismissed it. Yeah he had been having weird feelings around the boy lately but that didn't mean anything. And it certainly didn't mean this! "I can't believe it. Please tell me I'm dreaming. This can't have happened. I am never going to Yamato's parties ever again!" A lady passing by looked at him strangely. He ignored her. "I am so stupid. Why did I run out like that? I need to find out what happened. I'll go—no, I can't. I don't want to. I don't want to know. I mean for all I know, nothing happened. That's right this never happened." Still, he didn't feel any better. 'Aspirin and sleep,' he decided. He got up and started walking in what he assumed was the direction of home. 'I just hope he doesn't tell anybody.'

Daisuke blinked the sleep out of his eyes as his clouded mind tried to make sense of what just happened. He saw a white hat on the floor and picked it up. The he realized what happened.

Flashback

Last night was supposed to be the biggest party of the year thrown by Yamato's band. Daisuke wasn't planning to go but decided to stop by for appearances. Yamato had invited him, even if it was probably because he felt he had to. He got there pretty late, but a lot of drinking had been going on. Daisuke had just shaken off some guy when Yamato approached him.

"Hey Daisuke having fun?" The older teen was obviously drunk, or at least getting there.

"Yeah Yamato. Great party."

"Yeah it is. Hey, have you seen Takeru? I lost sight of him a while ago."

"No, haven't seen him."

Yamato frowned. "Well, could you keep an eye out for him?" Daisuke nodded. "Thanks. And make sure he gets home okay." He nodded again. "Promise?" Yamato glared at him.

Daisuke gulped. Yamato was famous for his temper, especially when it came to protecting his brother. "Of course I will. If--" glare "when I see him I'll make sure he gets home safe."

Yamato smiled. "Knew I could count on you." He walked off.

Daisuke did find Takeru talking with some guy. They were both drunk of their ass and the other guy was getting a little too close to his Takeru. Yes, he was crushing on the blonde. Maybe it was even more than a little crush. He knew of course that his feelings would never be returned, but that didn't mean he'd let some other jerk have his way with him. He walked over to them.

"Daisuke!" Takeru called when he saw him. "Have you met my friend?" He slurred, pointing to the other guy.

Daisuke eyed him carefully. "Come on Takeru, you've had enough. Let's get you home."

"But I don't wanna go! The party just started!" He laughed.

Daisuke sighed. "It's over for you."

The other guy finally spoke up. "Hey, he said he wants to stay. So why don't you just leave him with me?" He snaked an arm around Takeru's waist.

'Oh hell no.' Daisuke glared at him. "I don't think so. Come on Takeru." He pulled the blonde away from the guys hold.

"You little punk!" Daisuke pushed Takeru behind him and glared at the guy. "Look, I'm not trying to start--" Smack. The guy punched Daisuke in the face. He blinked the stars out of his eyes thinking that maybe it wasn't such a good idea to take on a drunk. He was also extremely pissed. He punched the guy in the nose. He cried out and growled at Daisuke. 'I don't have time for this.' He kicked the guy in the groin and hurried away, pulling Takeru behind him.

Takeru tried to get out of his grasp. "Come on. I was having fun."

"I'm sure you were," grumbled Daisuke, holding his cheek. "I promised your brother I'd get you home safe, so that's what I'm doing." They made it outside when Daisuke realized a small problem. He was pretty sure Takeru's mother would not be happy if her son came home drunk. He silently cursed and wondered why Yamato hadn't thought of that.

He stood thinking while Takeru played with a nearby cat. Then he remembered that Jun was staying at a friend's house. And his parents weren't home, which was the only reason he got to the party in the first place. Takeru could stay at his place. After much protest, Daisuke finally pulled the blonde away from the cat and signaled a taxi. When they got in Takeru passed out on his lap. Daisuke smiled. This alone made the whole night worth it. This kind of thing would never happen unless Takeru was drunk and passed out. He tugged on his wrist bands. He wouldn't think about it, just enjoy the moment while it lasted.

The taxi stopped in front of Daisuke's apartment. He paid the driver and somehow dragged Takeru up to his apartment and onto his bed. He left the room to call Takeru's mom and let her know he was spending the night. By the time he came back, Takeru had undressed and gone to sleep.

end flashback

"Shit!" he swore. Takeru had probably gotten the wrong idea and jumped to conclusions. Daisuke had to let him know that nothing had happened. He went to the phone and dialed Takeru's number. It rang once, twice, three times: no answer. Daisuke sighed and hung up. He leaned back and wondered what to do. It was bad enough Takeru didn't like him—he had no doubt about that. He didn't want him to hate him because of this. He put his head in his hands and winced. He'd have to find him at school tomorrow. He went back to his room and dropped the hat into his bag so he wouldn't forget it. Then he went to see just how bad his face was.

Takeru woke up the next morning feeling a little guilty. He knew it was because of yesterday. Daisuke had probably been just as shocked. Or maybe Daisuke was hurt. After all, if that had been him—no he couldn't...wouldn't think about it.

He turned to look at his alarm clock and groaned. He'd woken up before his alarm. He tried to go back to sleep but couldn't. With a sigh he rolled out of bed and went to take a shower.

'What am I gonna do if he brings it up. I don't want to talk about it. I don't even want to remember it...which I don't. But that's beside the point.' He turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. "Now that I think about it, maybe he doesn't remember, and he won't want to talk about it either. But knowing Daisuke...He just better not tell anyone, him and his big mouth. I mean, if this got out, I'd...I'd..." He really didn't know what he'd do, but he was pretty sure it would have something to do with solitary confinement. He was actually a bit torn at the moment of what to think. He knew it was bad that this had happened. It was bad enough it was a guy, but Daisuke? This would really ruin him. Yet a part of him kept saying he needed to talk about it with him. And another part was saying that maybe it wasn't such a bad thing. That maybe he'd even like the idea. 'Why am I still thinking about this?' He hit his head against the mirror.

After pulling himself together he walked to his room to get ready for school. When he looked at his clock again he was surprised to see it was time to go. He looked around for his hat but couldn't find it. 'Did I leave it at Yamato's? Or maybe...screw it. I don't need the hat.'

He went to the kitchen to find his mom had left money on the table. She had left for work without telling him, as usual. He picked it up, grabbed some toast, and headed out the door to meet Miyako and Iori. He greeted them as they came to his door.

"Hey Takeru!" greeted Miyako. "Great party this weekend huh? Where did you go after? I never saw you leave, but couldn't find you when it started dying down."

Takeru flushed and swore to himself. He'd forgotten Miyako was there. "Yeah, it was a great party. Did you meet anyone?" Miyako grinned. Iori glared at him. Miyako was always falling for one guy or another, and her friends were usually the ones to suffer through her stories. Sure enough, she started listing all the names and numbers she'd gotten, along with looks and potential datability.² Takeru half listened, glad that the distraction worked.

Daisuke grimaced as he looked in the mirror. There was an ugly purple mark that covered his right cheek just below the eye. He had tried to keep it from looking too bad, but it hadn't worked. "If I ever see that jerk again he's dead. It's not like I bruise that easily. Stupid ass."

He sat on the side of the bathtub and tried to think of a good story. He couldn't tell them the truth, Takeru would kill him. Couldn't let mister perfect get rescued by ugly Daisuke. Plus his parents would kill him if they found out he went to a party. Or even if he just said he got in a fight. He tried to think of all the accidents that would cause a bruised face. 'Maybe I walked into a pole.' He laughed. 'It's not like they wouldn't believe it. Let's see...I got distracted by something and turned to look and never saw the pole coming.' He laughed at himself. He looked in the mirror again. "You are pathetic," he told his reflection. His reflection seemed to agree.

Daisuke sighed. It probably wasn't a good sign if his mirror was agreeing with him. He tugged on his wrist band. He really needed some new ones, these were starting to itch. Of course that was partly his fault. He smiled bitterly. After finishing getting ready he grabbed some toast and stepped outside. Today he was leaving early to try to catch Takeru before school. He knew Takeru wasn't gonna want to talk about this. He hated him enough as it was. But he needed to let him know nothing happened, and he couldn't do it in front of Takeru's friends. He decided to leave out the part where he rescued the blonde. That probably wouldn't go over too well.

He hated school. He hated the classes, hated the teachers, and especially hated the students. The ones who always teased him for something. Or talked about how stupid he was. Or how clumsy and clueless he was. Or how he never had a chance with Hikari. He didn't even like her! That was some stupid grade school crush years ago. He hung out with Miyako and Iori out of necessity. He'd rather not completely make his life hell by turning into a loner. Sometimes he hung out with people on the soccer team. That was only when they talked about upcoming games or strategy. Otherwise he was invisible to them.

As he walked through the school gates he noticed several people staring at him and whispering. 'Yeah, I know. I've got a big ass bruise on my face. Tell the whole world! I am definitely killing that guy next time I see him.' He looked for Takeru, hoping that he wouldn't be with his friends yet. If he was, Daisuke could just forget it.

He let his thoughts drift. They eventually stuck on the blonde he was looking for. He didn't know when he had stopped liking Hikari and started liking Takeru, it just happened. It took a while for him to accept that fact, but he finally did. It was just another thing to add to the list of why people hated him. He was getting used to it. Of course Takeru would never know that he liked him. Once in a while Daisuke would dream that Takeru liked him back, but not very often. He knew what would really happen. If he was gonna die, he wanted it to at least be with some honor left. He subconsciously pulled on his wrist bands.

He spotted blonde hair and shook himself out of the mood he'd fallen into. He quickened his pace, hoping the blonde would listen to him.

Takeru had managed to ditch Miyako and Iori at the gates by telling them he had promised to help a teacher with something. Normally they and Hikari would hang out before school. Today he just didn't feel like it. Right now he wanted to be alone. This seemed a pointless wish as he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. He jumped and turned in surprise. He came face to face with the one person he really didn't want to see.

"Daisuke..." His stomach tied into a million knots.

"Hey Takeru!" He had his usual grin slapped on his face.

"What do you want Daisuke?" he asked coldly. He could have sworn he saw the other boy flinch. Okay, maybe he was being a little too harsh. Maybe he just wanted to say hi. And act like nothing happened. He watched as Daisuke seemed to struggle whether to say something. He noticed a bruise on Daisuke's face. He raised an eyebrow, but didn't ask.

"Listen..." started Daisuke. "We need to talk."

"No."

"What?"

"No." Takeru shook his head. "We don't need to talk."

"But..."

"No Daisuke! Just...no."

Daisuke glared. "Listen. I don't know what—"

"Shut up!" He pushed him away. "I don't want to talk about it! I don't care what you think. As far as I'm concerned, nothing happened."

"But that's what—"

"Just leave it! I. Don't. Care. And I swear if you tell anyone I will make sure you die a slow, painful death!" He turned and stormed off, refusing to think about the hurt in Daisuke's eyes.

He stepped into his first class. Thankfully no one was there. He sat down on his desk and lowered his head, fighting the tears that were threatening to fall. This was too much. He wanted to forget about it but he wanted to clear it up. He didn't want to hurt Daisuke yet wondered why he even cared. He wanted to just leave this all behind and preferably never see Daisuke again. But somehow he doubted he'd be able to, and he didn't know why. There were too many thoughts contradicting each other. He was confused. He placed his head in his arms, and stayed that way until class started.

Daisuke stared after Takeru's retreating form in confusion. He ignored the weird looks he was getting from the other students. He knew Takeru would be a bit uncomfortable, but he thought he'd be at least reasonable. And he certainly didn't expect a death threat. 'He must really hate me.' Any hope he had ever had of even becoming friends with the blonde crumbled. He fought the tears building in his eyes. He never noticed the bell ring.

The school nurse found him in the same state a few minutes after everyone had gotten to class. "Mr. Motomiya?" Of course she knew him by name. He seemed to have more accidents than the rest of the school combined, which is why she didn't even bother asking about his bruise. "Mr. Motomiya?" she tried again, now a little concerned. He turned to her. "What are you doing out of class?" He looked at her blankly. "The bell rang ten minutes ago."

He blinked. "Really?" He looked around and found no one outside.

"Come on," she said. "Why don't you come to my office? I'm sending you home." Daisuke nodded and followed her.

They walked into the office and the nurse waved Daisuke into a seat. "Should I call your parents at home?"

He shook his head. "My parents are out of town."

She raised an eyebrow. "Who are you staying with then?"

"My sister."

"Is she home?"

"No, she has class."

The nurse sighed. "I can't really send you home without parental permission you know." She looked at him. "But I don't really think I should send you to class. What do you think?"

Daisuke shrugged. "I don't really care."

That did it. Usually Daisuke made a huge deal over something as simple as a paper cut. Decided, she began filling out a slip. "I'm writing a pass for you to go home. However, the fact that I did so without your parents' consent will remain secret." She gave him a hard look. He nodded. "Now don't expect this to happen often. And if I find out you went anywhere but home during school hours, I will personally give you detention." She tore out the slip and handed it to him. "Now go home and get some rest."

Daisuke thanked her and moved to put the slip in his bag. He spotted a piece of white cloth. He pulled the hat out and put it on the desk. "Could you please give this to Takeru Takaishi? He dropped it out front." He stood up and walked out the door.

1. Is his hair red or brown? I've never been able to figure it out.

2. Is datability even a word?

Takeru: You made me a drunk!
Daisuke: And confused!
Ariana: The first step is admitting you have a problem.
Takeru: I do not have a problem!
Ariana: You see!
Daisuke: Denial.
Takeru: I do not have a problem!!!!
Ariana: Right. Anyway, please review! The more reviews I get the more motivated I'll be to get the next chapter out! n.n